


Drabble Hour

by anjumstar



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime)
Genre: Children, Drabbles, F/M, Future Fic, handymanshipping, pokeshipping - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-15
Updated: 2014-11-15
Packaged: 2018-02-25 11:53:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 10,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2620763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anjumstar/pseuds/anjumstar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Future Fic. Glimpses into the life of Ash and Misty as parents. Series of 24 drabbles, one for each hour of the day showing moments in the life of Ash/Misty and their children.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 3pm

“ASH!”

A disheveled looking Ash came skidding into the room, hat lopsided on his head and the rest of his clothes in various levels of disarray.

Misty didn’t look too well off either; face flushed and eyes narrowed as they found Ash. She was clearly seething, and Ash was the obvious target. Realizing this, Ash gathered what few wits he had and backed away, only to be slowly followed by Misty.

“Ash,” she started in a sickly sweet way that didn’t begin to match the rage in her eyes, “Could you explain this?” Misty gestured behind her towards the middle of the room.

He gulped. Maybe it would be best to play it dumb. He had always pulled that off well in the past. He put on his best innocent expression and ventured forward hesitantly, “Explain what, Misty?”

Her face portrayed a distinct lack of amusement, “Hmm, I don’t know. Perhaps it could be that you left our daughter alone, out of her crib, without you or me watching her?” By the end, Misty’s calm façade had faded completely and her voice had gradually risen to a harsh shriek.

Baffled at what was a completely false statement, he replied, “But she isn’t alone, see she—”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Misty started sarcastically, “you’re right. She isn’t alone because you used Bulbasaur’s vine whip to keep her safe. That was a brilliant idea!”

Ash glanced over to Bulbasaur and baby Charlotte. In hindsight, maybe it wasn’t the best idea to leave them like that, but on the other hand, they both seemed happy enough. He was met with a much less pleased face as he turned back to Misty. It wasn’t as though he hadn’t had good reason! She hadn’t even given him the chance to clarify that he’d only been gone for a few minutes while he was fixing Charlotte’s bottle.

He tried explaining this to Misty, but before he could finish he saw the telltale gleam in her eyes and bolted right as Misty let out a feral screech and began chasing him around the house. Ash didn’t bother to point out that this still left Charlotte alone with Bulbasaur.


	2. 8pm

“It’ll be okay, Ash.”

But it’s _my_ _hat_!” Ash cried, bemoaning the fate of his hat, which was currently in the sticky hands of Charlotte, who had decided that the snapback made just the best teething toy.

Misty sighed, recognizing the unique bond between a man and his hat that Ash had explained on multiple occasions. Frankly, she was just happy for a moment or two of silence. In the beginning of Charlotte’s teething phase, nothing could calm her down. Misty couldn’t even count the number of pacifiers, teething rings, and toys that they had gone through to get her to stop crying. It was merely luck, that Ash had leaned over the crib just far enough for his hat to slip off of his head into the waiting arms of the baby.

They had tried other hats, of course, hoping for success with one that had less sentimental value and a certain someone wouldn’t cry over if it got slobber stains on it, but Charlotte was attached to the Official Pokémon League hat. Unfortunately, Ash was too.

In frustration with the two babies that she had to deal with, Misty left the room hoping for a nap now that the how was a little quieter. She awoke a few hours later, surprised that it was now dark out.

She tiptoed to the nursery, greeted by the sight of a hat-less Ash, asleep in the rocking chair holding an equally asleep Charlotte. She returned back to the bedroom quickly before reentering the nursery with a camera. The bright flash startled both man and baby awake, leaving the latter crying. Without a word, Ash grabbed the hat, which had slipped to the ground, and handed it to Charlotte, instantly pacifying her.

Misty grinned at the sight and snapped another picture before she, the baby, and Ash all returned to sleep, this time in their respective beds.


	3. 10am

The staring contest had been going since Charlotte woke up from her midmorning nap. Misty watched contentedly, but Ash seemed bored. You could always tell when Ash was restless, because he started fidgeting and rolling around on the ground. Currently, he was on his back with his legs were reaching for the string on the fan

Togepi and baby Charlotte had hardly moved in ten minutes; it was a well known fact that Ash’s attention span didn’t last that long.

Suddenly, the baby started to cry, breaking the spell. Misty leaned forward to settle her and Togepi frowned at the lack of attention. This had been happening more and more with the newest addition to the family, and Togepi wasn’t having it. Its arms began to swing back and forth and started to glow a light blue.

Misty was busy cooing to Charlotte, and Ash was righting himself, dealing with the sudden rush of blood from his head. Despite this, he noticed an iridescence coming from the egg pokémon. In alarm, he snatched it up and cried, “Misty!”

Finally done hushing the baby, Misty turned to Ash, murmuring a “Hmm?” before gasping at the sight before her.

“Ash‽ Is Togepi using an Attack?” At that, the glowing stopped, and Togepi chirped in content at being held again.

Ash and Misty looked at each other, and then looked down at the baby Pokémon in Ash’s arms. Maybe they needed to keep a better eye on the baby egg.


	4. 12am

_RING RING RING, RING RING RING, PHONE CALL, PHONE CALL, RING RING RING, RING RING RING, PHONE CALL, PHONE CA—_

Misty stumbled out of bed; thoughts of deep slumber drifting away from her as she trudged down the hall towards the offensive phone. Who the heck would be calling them at this hour?

“Hello?”

“Like, Misty? You, like, don’t look very good,” an unmistakable voice said as the picture of a very peppy blonde showed up on the screen.

Misty mumbled something resembling a reply and Daisy continued on, hardly noticing whatever insult Misty had undoubtedly attempted to throw her way. “Misty, we’re, like, in a jam. Lily, Violet, and I were offered an acting job all the way out in, like, Jublife city or something—”

Slowly getting grips on consciousness, Misty rolled her eyes, predicting what the next part of this conversation would be, but she let her sister drivel on anyway.

“—and we need for you to move back to the Gym for a while.”

Before Misty could utter a reply, the blonde already gushed a thousand thanks for Misty’s understanding and hung up. Misty gaped at the now black screen and hardly noticed Ash staggering down the hallway.

“Who was that?” he rasped, sleep evident in his voice.

Misty sighed and just said, “How do you feel about moving?”


	5. 12pm

Moving boxes were strewn every-which-way. The usually tidy Gym had half-assembled furniture pushed against the wall, clothes all over the floor, and not one toy in the bins that they belonged in.

“Ash! I can’t find her anywhere!” Misty sobbed.

The frazzled parents had spent what seemed like forever tearing the house apart looking for their missing child. They looked everywhere in the Gym, and she wasn’t anywhere to be found.

Both Ash and Misty collapsed on the cushion-less couch and half-heartedly glanced around the room. Suddenly, Ash noticed tendrils of long, dark hair splayed out of a knocked over cardboard box.

Ash tapped Misty’s shoulder and pointed to the box. Both leapt up and darted to the box greeted by the sight of a very much asleep Charlotte, surrounded by a boxful of stuffed animals. Ash and Misty sighed in relief leaning against each other as they collapsed to the floor surrounded by toys and their still resting daughter.


	6. 9am

Charlotte stood uncertainly on the battle platform, hazel eyes wavering in anxiousness. She just wanted to start battling, but before they could get started, Daddy had gone and run off to check something, so she had to settle with playing with the Azurill next to her. Just then, she saw him running back into the Battle room in the Gym. Charlotte began to bounce up and down on the balls of her feet, excited and ready to go.

“Ready to battle, sweetie?” Ash panted as he climbed onto the Battle platform opposite Charlotte.

She nodded yes enthusiastically and yelled, “Go, Azurill!” and the blue mouse hopped into the pool happily.

Ash tossed a blue ball into the pool and a flash of light came out, revealing a Totodile, who seemed to be dancing on top of the water.

“You can make the first move!” Ash called over to Charlotte.

Charlotte grinned eagerly and yelled, “Azurill, use Bubble!”

Ash was about to call for Totodile to dodge, when a voice rang through the Gym, “Azurill! Where are you? I need to feed you—”

At that moment, Charlotte saw her mom walk into the Gym behind Ash. She called, “Mommy!” and at that Ash turned around and spotted Misty. He muttered something under his breath and quickly returned Totodile and hopped off of the Battle platform.

“Ash?” Misty gasped, “What are you doing?”

Charlotte had already climbed down the Battle platform and was running toward her parents exclaiming, “Mommy! Daddy was teaching me how to battle!”

Ash sweat-dropped. She always ratted him out without even knowing it.

Misty glared at Ash. “He was, was he? Teaching a four-year-old how to battle.” Turning back to Charlotte, Misty continued sweetly, “Charlotte, why don’t you go take a break from battling and feed Azurill its lunch? I already have it set out in the kitchen.”

Charlotte nodded eagerly and scampered off to the kitchen just as her mommy started yelling at her daddy about something on responsibility with young impressionable children, or something.


	7. 10pm

It had been a tough day for Ash. As Champion, he had spent the whole day battling, and now he was completely wiped. He walked into the bedroom and was greeted with a dim room flickering with what must have been a hundred candles. Glancing around the room, he took in the champagne flutes, roses, and the chocolates, but his eyes stopped when they reached someone sitting on the bed.

Her hair fell into perfect orange curls on her bare shoulders and she was wearing a short, satin negligee that hugged her curves perfectly. In short, she looked beautiful.

Ash gulped, hardly used to seeing his wife looking so dazzling, and less like a tomboy. She was positively glowing; he couldn’t take his eyes off of her.

“So, what’s all this for? I didn’t miss our anniversary did I?”

Misty smirked as she stood up. She rested her arms on Ash’s shoulders and looked up at him seductively and murmured, “Our anniversary isn’t for two more months. This is kind of a celebration, though.”

“I’m pretty sure that it’s not your birthday, or mine. So…?” Ash trailed off.

“Well,” Misty took Ash’s hand and placed it on her abdomen. “Do you have any other guesses?”

Ash looked at her blankly and shifted his hand to her hip. What was she talking about? He looked down, and saw that Misty was now rubbing her stomach. Suddenly his eyes widened and Misty grinned at seeing Ash’s realization.

“You’re pregnant,” he gasped.

Misty giggled. “Took you long enough.” She continued to laugh even harder as she saw Ash bounding around the room, letting out various whoops of joy, before he grabbed her arms and swung them both onto the bed for further celebration.


	8. 1am

It may have been the middle of the night, but Pikachu was hungry. Very hungry. It was scouring the house for hidden ketchup packets, but couldn’t find them anywhere.

Suddenly, it caught a whiff of some lovely ketchup. Pikachu followed the scent into the kitchen and saw a certain redhead sitting at the table with a pile of empty ketchup packages in front of her. Seeing this, and only slightly enraged, Pikachu hopped on the table to see what _Pikachupi_ was doing with _its_ ketchup packages.

 _Pikachupi_ was currently squeezing what looked to be the last package onto a cracker and shoved it in her mouth before she noticed the yellow mouse glaring at her.

“What?” Misty asked, spraying cracker onto the table.

Pikachu began chattering incessantly, with Misty only understanding the occasional word.

After a couple minutes of that, the light to the kitchen switched on, and in walked a very tired, disgruntled looking _Pikapi_. Pikachu looked over to him and continued its unintelligible ranting.

Ash glanced between Pikachu, Misty, and the huge pile of used ketchup packages. “Misty?” Ash questioned. “Do we have to hide the ketchup from you too?”

Misty shrugged her shoulders, hardly looking guilty, and replied, “Only when I have a craving for it.”


	9. 4am

“GET UP ASH!”

Misty was _thisclose_ to smacking Ash with her mallet. It was often less than beneficial to have a husband who was such a deep sleeper; some days the only thing that could wake him up was a small shock from Pikachu; a service that she felt like utilizing right now.

She did just that by signaling Pikachu, who had been awake since Misty started her shouting. Needless to say, Pikachu eagerly complied.

Not a moment later, Ash was very much awake, and only a little crispy. Now that Ash was finally in a position to listen to her, Misty cried, “Ash, I’m in labor!”

If Pikachu’s shock didn’t wake him up, than that most certainly did. In an instant, he was up and helping Misty out of the bed.

Fortunately, Ash and Misty had thought ahead for once, and sent Charlotte to Pallet Town to stay with Grandma Delia earlier in the week, so nothing was holding them up from scrambling for their overnight bag and rushing to the car. Well, as much as someone who has an extra thirty pounds on her abdomen can rush.

Once they were finally in the car and well on their way to Cerulean Hospital, Ash glanced over to Misty and saw a wooden handle in Misty’s lap. Instantly stiffening in reflexive dread, Ash turned back to the road and took a few calming breaths. “Misty,” Ash managed to stutter out, “Why did you bring your mallet with you?”

Misty grimaced as another contraction ripped through her body. “It’s simple, Ash,” Misty said once the pain subsided, “I only use the mallet when I’m really mad at you and or you do something stupid. Usually.”

Now, Ash knew that this was only partially true, because as often as Misty used her mallet, she didn’t use it nearly as much as Ash did stupid things. He had the brains, though, to realize that this wasn’t a good thing to point out the moment, and he shut his mouth and let his wife continue.

“Well, I thought that now would be a great time to have it with me—” She paused as another contraction hit, this time much more forceful. Instead of pausing for the agony to pass, she used it to fuel the end of her speech, and deliver with a scream: “Because _I truly hate you right now_.”


	10. 8am

“There she goes.”

Charlotte’s ebony colored hair was tied in adorable pigtails, she was dressed in her best pinafore, and she carried a backpack with Water Pokémon printed all over it and a matching lunchbox. She was ready.

Misty, however, was not ready. She held back sobs as she waved goodbye to her daughter as she made her way to the front of school. Ash held the distraught Misty and baby Adrian, and tried to comfort her to no avail. Suddenly, he stopped and just stared at Charlotte. A boy had walked up to her, and they were talking.

Misty looked up, seeing the boy talking to Charlotte as well. “Isn’t that Gary Oak’s boy?” Misty asked.

Ash nodded absently as he found himself looking for the familiar brunette spiky hair and green eyes of his formal rival.

“Hi, Ashy-boy.”

Ash stiffened at the familiar voice. While Ash and Gary didn’t have the same juvenile hatred for each other, they weren’t on the best of terms either.

Ignoring Ash’s discomfort, Gary continued, “Wouldn’t they be the cutest couple? And your daughter looks as though she’ll become as much of a guy-magnet as your wife has.”

Ash’s face turned increasingly red as Gary spoke, and just as it looked as though he was about to hit Gary, Misty reigned him in, and spun him in the direction of the car.

As they began walking away, Misty hesitated, and asked, “Where’s Pikachu?”

They both spun around looking for him, before stopping on the pointed yellow ears sticking out of Charlotte’s backpack.

“…I guess it’s Pikachu’s first day of school too.”


	11. 2pm

Misty had been scurrying around the house, trying to get everything ready before Ash had to leave for the Pokémon League to defend his title. Currently, they were just in the preliminary rounds, but that only meant that he was supposed to already be there to make an appearance. She passed the den on another flying trip down the stairs, and noticed the TV was on. She stepped in, planning to turn it off, but instead saw Ash and baby Adrian sprawled out in front of the TV.

“Ash, what are you doing?” Misty asked in what was a very typical way to start a conversation with Ash.

Ash looked up innocently at Misty and asked, “What do you mean?”

She didn’t know if Ash was playing dumb, or if he was actually being dumb, but Misty plowed on anyway. “Why are you making Adrian watch the Pokémon League Battles? He’s only a few weeks old; he can’t even see the stupid television set.”

Ash shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and replied, “I don’t see the harm. It’s all a part of his training.”

Misty shut her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose before questioning, “Training?”

“He has a legacy to live on!” Ash exclaimed as though it were obvious. “To live up to being a Pokémon Master, like me,” he continued without even trying to hide his smugness, “he has to start his training early.”

“Ash, you won’t have a legacy to live up to if you don’t get off of your lazy butt and get ready to go. Daisy and Tracy will be here any minute to watch the Gym while we’re gone; get moving!”

With one eye still on the TV set, Ash slowly got up before Misty reached for the baby and shoved Ash out of the room.


	12. 11pm

“Oh my Mew!” Misty and Ash exclaimed as they walked into the Gym. They had just returned late from being gone for a couple weeks for the Pokémon League. Ash had successfully defended his title, and they stayed a few extra days as a vacation. The hotel had been free, so why not?

“We’ve been robbed!” Misty cried.

This was why not. There were Pokémon everywhere, the place was a mess, and…

“Misty, like, thank Mew you’re back! We’re out of Badges.”

…they were out of Badges, apparently.

“Daisy‽” Misty seethed. “What the hell happened here?”

“ _Mommy said a bad word, Mommy said a bad word_ ,” Charlotte chanted.

Misty continued, hardly noticing as Ash slapped his hand across Charlotte’s mouth and tried to hush her. “How can you be out of Badges? The League only ended a few days ago, and you can’t have Gym Battles during the League, so how did you lose so many Badges?”

Daisy looked embarrassed and replied, “Well, you know how eager the little kids are to battle right after the League, because that’s when they can get their Trainer Licenses, and apparently word got out that I was running the Gym instead of you, so I guess that they thought that the Cerulean Gym would be a good place to get started…”

Misty slapped her forehead and Ash, finally having hushed Charlotte, asked, “Then why is the place such a mess?”

At that point, Tracy walked into the room looking guilty and said, “I think that’s mostly my fault. Daisy would go out shopping and I was watching all the Pokémon here so I could sketch them, and that meant letting them out to do their own thing. And then when Daisy would get back, she and I were distracted because of, well—”

“Eww! Stop!” Misty shouted.

“Yeah, guy’s thanks so much for your help, but we’ll take it from here,” Ash said as he walked both Tracy and Daisy to the door.

“Home sweet home,” Misty murmured as they left.

Ash chucked as he replied, “Thank goodness we didn’t leave the kids with them, eh?”


	13. 6pm

“Guys! I made dinner!”

Ash felt his blood run cold. Dinner? He didn’t trust his wife with pouring cereal in the bowl.  He hesitantly walked into the kitchen and sat down slowly in his seat, just as Misty placed his bowl of what appeared to be stew in front of him. It didn’t smell as bad as he expected it to, though that didn’t keep him from jealously eyeing Adrian’s mac ‘n cheese.

Charlotte leaned over towards Ash, and whispered, “Do we actually have to eat it?” while subconsciously wrinkling her nose.

Ash glanced back over to Misty.  She had just sat down with her own bowl, and was grinning widely at both of them.  No chance for escape. 

“Just try it,” he whispered back as he saw Charlotte’s shoulders slump a little bit.

Ash unhurriedly lifted the spoon to his lips, watching Misty out of the corner of his eye, trying to gauge her reaction.  As he finally slurped the stew, he couldn’t help gagging a little, and went into a little bit of a coughing fit. 

“Went down the wrong pipe,” he choked out.  He faked a smile as his eyes watered a little bit.  There must have been 100 ingredients in that; not one of them tasting good.

Misty still frowned a little bit at Ash’s display, and asked “What? Does the soup not taste good or something?”

It was supposed to be soup?

Ash, who was still coughing a little bit, looked from Misty to Charlotte, who made a big show of blowing on her soup, though Ash couldn’t tell if she was doing that to cool it down, or to blow the offensive scent across the table. He couldn’t lie to Misty.  “It was better than I was expecting…” he replied carefully. “Why don’t you try it?”

She lifted the spoon to her lips, and sipped the tiniest bit of soup.  Her face immediately soured, and Misty cried out, “How the hell did you eat that stuff?” before gulping down her entire glass of water in one go.  After getting her breath, she exclaimed, “We’re getting pizza.”

Charlotte and Ash whooped, and Ash thought that maybe it wasn’t so bad if Misty cooked. Well, aside from being possibly poisoned. At least he got pizza!


	14. 4pm

“Mommy! A boy gave me a valentine!”

Ash instantly bristled as an exuberant Charlotte ran up to her.  _A valentine? She’s too young for the affections of a boy! And who was this kid?_

Misty, on the other hand, smiled in delight, thrilled for her daughter.  She remembered yearning for attention when she was younger and she was happy that Charlotte didn’t have to live in that sort of a shadow.

“That’s great sweetie! Why don’t you show it to Daddy?” Misty’s grin changing to a smirk.  She always thought that it was fun to see Ash to squirm a little.

Charlotte crossed over to Ash and he bent over to read the card.  Handmade. Not a good sign.

“He drew me a Luvdisc, Daddy! He knew Luvdisc is one of my favorite Pokémon,” Charlotte trilled.

Ash grimaced. “He certainly did.”

“Wait,” Misty said, leaning over, “does that say _Joshua_? As in Joe and Giselle’s _Joshua_?” She trailed off as she imagined snapping Giselle’s neck in half.

“Yep! And we started talking, and we decided that we would go on our Pokémon journeys together, just like you and Daddy did, and I told him that I wanted to be a Water Pokémon Master and become a Gym Leader when you and Aunt Daisy and Aunt Lily and Aunt Violet get old…” 

Charlotte continued chattering excitedly and Ash sighed, looking over at Misty.  “They grow up so fast,” Ash said wistfully.

“Yeah,” Misty snickered. “Who’d have thought? Considering how long it’s taking you—talk about a work in progress.”

At that, Ash abruptly leaped up to chase Misty, who’d already gotten a head start, leaving Charlotte blinking confusedly at her parents. Work in progress indeed.


	15. 7am

“Daddy, why can’t I go with Charlotte?” Adrian asked as the Ketchums made their way up the sandy driveway to Professor Oak’s lab. Charlotte had run ahead, and Misty was trying to catch up to her, leaving Ash with Adrian.

“Because,” Ash explained, “she’s ten years old and is about to get her trainer license. You’re only five and not ready to go like she is.”

“But I _am_ ready to go!” Adrian exclaimed, fingering his lone PokéBall.

Ash shook his head. “Your only Pokémon is a Goldeen; a Pokémon that can’t even fight on land. You’re not ready to go.”

It was then that they made their way through the doors of the old lab, only a little after Misty and Charlotte.

Charlotte ran up to Professor Oak, and breathlessly began babbling about Pokémon.

“Whoa,” the Professor said, signaling for Charlotte to slow down. “Which Pokémon is it that you want?”

“Squirtle!” Charlotte breathed excitedly.

Professor Oak frowned as he began, “I’m sorry, Charlotte, but—”

“But I already chose Squirtle,” a voice from behind them finished.

“Brandon Oak,” Charlotte seethed.

Brandon walked up to Charlotte, spinning the shiny, new PokéBall on his finger, teasing it before her eyes and then grabbing it out of the air and opening it. Sure enough, Squirtle materialized out of the’Bball right at Charlotte’s feet.

“Fine,” Charlotte said, rage filling her eyes. “I’ll just take this one.” She grabbed a PokéBall and the pokédex that Professor Oak was hesitantly handing to her, and stormed out the door.

“Good luck on your journey, Charlotte,” Professor Oak called out before the door shut behind the Ketchums.

Ash ran up to her offering comforting words about how it was good to have a variety of Pokémon Types on a team, rather than just Water Pokémon; a comment that gave Ash a smack from Misty.

“Besides,” Ash said, rubbing the fresh ache in his head, “you already have Pokémon; you didn’t even need this one from Professor Oak.”

Charlotte just glared at her father and continued stomping down the long driveway.

“Well…” Misty started slowly, “at least she has a new rival?”


	16. 6am

“You’re sure you’re alright?” Misty asked for the hundredth time. “Slept well?”

“Yes, Mom,” Charlotte replied rolling her eyes. “I’ve only been gone for two days. What could have happened?”

Ash sniggered, knowing that was a bad move on Charlotte’s part. Ash still remembered very clearly exactly the mayhem that ensued on his first two days on his own journey.

And apparently Misty did too as she began talking very loudly into the phone about Spearows, locking your bike, and watching out for people in Team Rocket uniforms.

“Will Mommy be okay?” Adrian asked Ash. “She’s been talking about Charlotte ever since she left.”

“Mommy’s just a little crazy,” Ash replied.

“What did you say Ash Ketchum‽” Misty hollered, finally taking a break from the telephone.

Charlotte, meanwhile, could be seen in the video phone covering her ears crying out, “Mom!” complaining that she was certain that her eardrums had ruptured.

“Charlotte, baby, I have to go. Have fun in Viridian City!”

With that, Misty slammed the receiver and started stomping toward Ash. He looked over to Adrian and offhandedly said, “That should do it.”


	17. 5pm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanksgiving!

“Ash, it always amazes me how you can eat so much.” Misty glanced at Ash, heaping a second helping of turkey onto his plate before turning to look at Adrian. “And here you have your son taking after you.”

Through a mouthful of mashed potatoes, Ash mumbled, “Mihdsigohdfbv.”

“Mom’s right. You both are kind of disgusting.”

Everyone turned to the video phone, looking at Charlotte picking at her food.

“We do wish that you were here with us in person, Charlotte, though it’s nice to have even just a video of your head here at the table.” Delia smiled.

“You’re just jealous that you had to have takeout instead of eating real Thanksgiving food.” Adrian flashed a grin full of food, making Charlotte grimace and turn her face away from the screen.

“Or maybe,” Misty whispered to Ash, “she’s just upset that that little friend of hers had to leave.”

They both glanced at Charlotte, who sent them both a glare.

“Want to talk about it, honey?” Misty asked.

Charlotte’s glower dropped, and she sighed. “I just hate traveling alone. It’s no fun.”

“I know from experience,” Ash said, glancing at Misty, “if you’re traveling alone, you probably won’t be for long. I’m sure you’ll find a new traveling mate.”

Charlotte smiled. “Hopefully.”

“Mom,” Adrian called, “is it time for dessert yet?”

The women rolled their eyes groaning about stomachaches, and Adrian started chanting for pie.


	18. 5am

_“_ _Where is he_ _?”_ Misty cried for the hundredth time as she and Ash wandered through the forest just north of Cerulean City. They had been tracing the perimeter for a good half an hour and were only just now making their way deeper into the forest.

“Misty, all of the Pokémon are looking for him and we haven’t even been searching for that long. And remember, he has Pokémon with him, so even if he does get into trouble, he isn’t completely alone.” Ash paused to nudge Misty playfully, “Besides, don’t you remember how many times we used to get lost back when we traveled? It seemed like every day.”

Misty managed to choke out a strangled laugh. “So, you finally admit that we were lost? About time, I’d say.”

Ash frowned and was about to argue back when suddenly Adrian popped up just a few meters away from Ash and Misty. “Mom, Dad, look what I caught!”

A gasp of relief passed through Misty’s lips as she ran and embraced Adrian tightly. “Adrian! What on earth were you doing? I was worried sick!” She tried to sound angry, but failed as a few tears escaped her eyes.

“I was catching a Pokémon! I figured that since I’m nine, I should start my training,” Adrian proclaimed as soon as his mother let him breathe again. He produced a PokéBall out of his pocket and grinned wildly. “Wanna see?”

“Of course!” Ash replied eagerly, earning a jab in the ribs from Misty’s elbow.

She leered at him, leaning over and whispering through gritted teeth, “We’re not supposed to be proud of him for this, _Ash._ He needs to be punished for running off in the middle of the night.”

“Later,” Ash said quickly before returning his attention to the white beam forming out of the PokéBall. A small figure materialized. First a head, then gradually smaller segmented sections of its body until at the end formed a thin ovular tail.

“No, no, no, _NO_!” Misty screeched, her voice growing higher and shriller with each punctuated shriek. She crawled into Ash’s arms, and he almost immediately dropped her as we crouched to marvel at the Pokémon.

“A Caterpie!” Adrian boasted.

Ash grinned at the Pokémon and his son before turning back to find his wife scrambling backward at top speed toward a tree. He raced to scoop her up before she hit it and called to Adrian that they would meet him at the house.

“So…” Ash started, but Misty cut him off.

“No. Absolutely not. Nope. Never. Sorry. He can have another Pokémon be the first Pokémon that he catches on his own but it can’t be another Caterpie, sorry, no.” She shook her head vehemently.

“But, Misty. It’s the first Pokémon he caught by himself, just like me. He did it all on his own.” Ash pouted his lip and rounded his brown eyes, giving her a perfected puppy dog look.

She closed her eyes, refusing to meet his gaze. “No. I said he needed to be punished, and this can be his punishment.”

They argued like that all the way back to the house, not pausing until they stepped through the door to see Adrian playing with his new friend. Ash looked at Misty again, and she sighed in defeat.

“Fine.”

Ash cheered quietly before rushing over to his son and the new Caterpie. “So, did you use a pose when you caught it?”

Misty rolled her eyes and muttered something about keeping the Caterpie in the Pelipper cage.


	19. 3am

“Shh! Ash, be careful!”

“Be careful? Really Misty, out of all the times that you could have told me that, falling off cliffs, getting scorched by multiple Pokémon, and having people try to kill me, you choose now, when we’re at home, to tell me to be careful?

“Shh!” Misty said again, emphasizing it this time with a swat to the back of Ash’s head. “There is a potential burglar in our house, and I can’t hear anything over you talking and this damn storm outside.”

Ash and Misty crept down the stairs of the dark gym toward the front entrance.  They heard a rustling sound coming from the lobby just as a particularly harsh crack of thunder and bright bolt of lightning flashed through the house, making Misty jump a little and dart behind Ash’s back.

They finally made their way just to the edge of the lobby, and edged against the wall until they both could barely see in.  They spied two shadowy silhouettes leaned against one another, making their way slowly out of the lobby, toward Ash and Misty. Another flash of lightning lit up the room, allowing Ash and Misty to see the illuminated faces of their perpetrators.

It was Charlotte…

…and Brandon.

Ash and Misty collapsed against the wall with sighs of relief. Instead of alerting Charlotte and Brandon of their presence, though, they just continued to watch the young teenagers stagger towards the guest rooms before they returned back up to their own bedroom. They would ask in the morning.


	20. 7pm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas!

Misty was busying herself in the kitchen of the Oak mansion, expertly pouring drinks in red and green plastic cups, humming along to the festive music playing in the background. She had offered to help with the food, but whenever she reached toward the dishes, someone would dash right in front of her, mumbling something along the lines of, “I’ve got it,” leaving her to return back to her drinks. She had just finished pouring her hundredth sparkling cider of the night when she saw her husband enter the kitchen.

“Ash, what are you wearing?” Misty asked, an unmasked expression of horror on her face.

Ash glanced down at his red and green plaid ensemble and looked confusedly at Misty. “What’s wrong with it? I was just trying to be festive.”

Misty face-palmed but still moved from her drink station to join the party with him, looking back briefly when she thought that she heard a noise that sounded oddly like a chorused sigh of relief.

Once out in the main room, Misty was chatting amiably with a couple other Gym Leaders when she saw Ash freeze out of the corner of her eye. She muttered a brisk, “Excuse me,” before turning to ask Ash what was wrong when she saw it.

In walked a beautiful girl with loosely curled, glossy, black hair flouncing behind her, wearing a tight gold dress stopping at mid-thigh with opaque black tights.

“Charlotte‽” both Ash and Misty exclaimed is surprise.

Charlotte’s head perked up and she grinned at her parents, waving at them enthusiastically as she weaved through the crowd toward them. As she pushed through the hordes of people, Ash and Misty saw her arm trailing behind her, pulling someone else with her.

“Oh no,” Misty said under her breath, turning the look at Ash who was presently craning his neck trying to see.

It was when she finally came to a stop in front of them that he saw it: Charlotte and Brandon, hands intertwined.

“Oh no.”


	21. 11am

“Ash? Misty?” Brock approached the two tentatively. They had been positioned identically for the past half hour, sitting on the front porch, elbows on thighs, chins cradled in hands; staring out unmoving. Brock and Delia had just let them sit there, but now Brock was frustrated. He stood, tapping his foot in exasperation, Mimey at his side. A sigh escaped his lips as he muttered, “I didn’t want to have to do this.” He looked to Mimey, gestured toward Ash and Misty, and Mimey was off. He started sweeping and soon enough Ash and Misty tumbled off the porch and onto the ground.

Once the dust settled, Brock saw Ash and Misty again sitting, this time on the ground. He exclaimed, “Guys, enough is enough!” before picking them up by their collars and leading them inside the house.

“You two need to snap out of it. You weren’t nearly this dysfunctional when Charlotte left. Adrian will be fine!” They still didn’t say a word. Brock sighed. “Why is it so different this time?”

Ash turned woodenly to Brock. “We’re really alone,” he said.

“We’re empty-nesters,” Misty murmured in agreement.

Brock arched his brow and looked at them like they were stupid. Before he could try again to smack some sense in them, the doorbell rang. Neither Ash nor Misty moved, leaving Brock to roll his eyes and go to the front door.

When he came back he smirked a little at Ash and Misty, shaking his head saying, “Maybe you guys aren’t as alone as you thought.”

Ash and Misty turned toward him and confusion and saw him walking away, leaving a red-eyed Charlotte standing dejectedly in the front hallway.

Misty leapt up gasping, “My baby!” as she reached her arms out to Charlotte, Ash not far behind.

“What’s wrong, baby?” Misty asked gently, causing Charlotte to erupt into sobs.

“He…” Charlotte started between gasps, “left.”

“Who?” Ash asked.

Misty rolled her eyes at him, inconspicuously smacking the back of his head before turning back to Charlotte. “Do you know why?”

Charlotte nodded. “His dad took him to go do research in an ‘undisclosed location.’”

Ash ran his fingers through his hair, silently cursing Gary.

“I love him, Mama.”

Misty looked at Charlotte and knew it was true. She had fallen in love younger than that.

“Don’t worry, baby,” Misty murmured, rubbing Charlotte’s back soothingly. “I had someone I loved leave me, but then he came back.” Ash and Misty locked eyes. “He always came back.”


	22. 2am

Ash tossed and turned in the king size, four poster bed with the comfiest mattress he had ever laid in of the lush hotel room that he was staying at. And yet he couldn’t sleep a wink. Damn Pokémon conferences. He sat up, rubbing sleep dust out of his eyes and reached for the phone on the bedside table.

“Hello?”

“I missed you.”

He heard a warm sigh on the other side of the line. “Missed you too.”

“The kids call?”

Misty nodded even though she knew he couldn’t see. “They’re well.”

He smiled. “I love you.”

“Love you too.”


	23. 9pm

“Ash, get back inside!”Misty shouted, squinting her eyes as she leaned her head out the door into the pouring rain. It was dark, and with the storm it was impossible to see a foot in front of her. She quickly slipped on a rain jacket and boots and trekked outside only to find Ash in the front yard, climbing aboard Pidgeot. “What the hell do you think that you’re doing?” she called.

“I’m going to go bring her back,” Ash answered curtly, not stopping for a moment.

Misty looked dumbly at her husband. “Ash, she hasn’t lived with us in eight years. It’s a little late to stop her from moving out.”

Ash glared at her, replying crossly, “It’s not that. It’s that she just up left everything, gallivanting off to be with that punk.”

“I don’t care!” Misty cried out glowering back at him. “Just get back inside!” She pulled a trick from their travels with Brock and reached up to grab his ear, thus pulling him off of Pidgeot and onto the sopping wet ground.

Once they were back inside and Misty threw a dry towel over Ash’s head and plopped down next to him. They sat in silence for a few minutes as Ash absentmindedly dried himself off.

“She loves him.”

At that, Misty glanced up at Ash, before nodding her head and smiling lightly. “Yeah, she does. And she needs to do this.”

Before Misty could attempt to enlighten Ash further, the doorbell rang. They both got up to answer it and pulled the door open only to find an soaking wet, exhausted Brandon standing before them.

Misty turned victoriously to Ash, the words, “I’m always right,” on her breath, but was met with Ash’s own smug expression. He smirked. “See? I should have stopped her.”

“Damn.”


	24. 1pm

“I can’t believe that this is happening,” Ash murmured, holding his face in his hands, watching bridesmaids walk down the aisle.

“Ash,” Misty comforted, “they’re nineteen. We were as old as them when we got married.”

“It’s not that.” Ash glared across the aisle. “We’re going to be related to Gary! Gary f—”

Misty shushed him.

“—ing Oak!”

“Ash, we’re in a church!” she exclaimed, giving him a light swat.

Ash rolled his eyes in response and stood up reluctantly as the music switched and Charlotte entered in the back of the church. Misty grinned proudly and Ash couldn’t help but smile. She was beautiful.

As the ceremony went on, Ash began fidgeting in his seat. He was bouncing his feet up and down on the floor rapidly, irritating fancily clad Pikachu dressed in a tiny suit and a top hat, on his lap to no end. Adrian arched his brow at his father. “You hanging in there, Dad?”

Ash nodded, turning to look at Charlotte and found that her face had disappeared in Brandon’s. Ash blanched and Adrian grimaced. Misty rubbed Ash’s shoulder sympathetically, asking, “You sure you’re okay? Your daughter’s last name is officially Oak, you know.” She couldn’t help smirking in amusement as she said the words.

Evidently, Ash hadn’t considered the idea before, and his eyes went wide in horror. He then spent the rest of the service switching between watching the ceremony and glaring at across the aisle, all the while stewing in his seat, trying to come up with a plan to avoid Gary Oak for the rest of his life.


	25. From Their Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlotte/Brandon spinoff chapter to fill in the gaps.

It started with her third birthday party. All of the Ketchum’s family and neighbors were joined together at the Gym to celebrate the great milestone. Charlotte was toddling around the pool, occasionally leaning over to splash the water, only to be dragged back by a frazzled Pikachu who had been put on babysit duty so that the parents could enjoy a little adult conversation.

She had just leaned over for another good splash and as Pikachu scampered over to save her from impending disaster, someone beat it to her. Unfortunately, instead of pulling her back from the treacherous pool, he gave a strong poke right to her spine.

The guests all heard a loud _splash_ and turned around to find a missing birthday girl and a small boy with shaggy brown hair, clapping his hand giddily.

Charlotte, already a talented swimmer, burst through the surface of the water and began treading water, glaring needles at the Oak boy, sputtering as she tried to spit the pool water out of her mouth.

Her parents ran over to lift her out of the pool and she vowed from that day forward to hate the brunette boy with the blue eyes that pierced right through her.

* * *

“Why are you avoiding me?” Brandon asked.

Charlotte was sitting at a table on the outside lunch patio at her school. None of her friends had gotten there to join her yet, so it was just her. And then Brandon had walked up. “You annoy me,” Charlotte replied coolly.

“Are you sure that it doesn’t have anything to do with that little boyfriend of yours?” Brandon spat back.

“Yes.”

That wasn’t the entire truth. In all honesty, Brandon wasn’t her favorite person; the way that he looked at her with such intent always made her feel funny. That wasn’t enough to make her pointedly avoid him, though. Joshua, who was also not the biggest fan of the looks that Brandon gave his girl, may have mentioned something about her staying away from him. Since it wasn’t a grand sacrifice on her part, Charlotte had made an effort to steer clear of him.

Always able to read her extraordinarily well, Brandon frowned and asked, “Is that so?”

“Yes,” Charlotte said again, standing firm.

Giving up for the moment, Brandon began to turn away, only pausing for a moment to say, “It won’t always be that way,” leaving Charlotte shivering at the ominous promise.

* * *

“Charlotte, watch out!”

He dove on top of her, pushing her to the ground as a swarm of angry Beedrill buzzed over their heads.

When the swarm passed a few moments later, Brandon rolled over, off of Charlotte and moved to help her up. Glaring, she swatted his hand away. “I didn’t need your help,” she grit out, however, a slight waver was evident in her voice.

Brandon glared right back at her. “Sure you didn’t. Like that scream you gave out when you saw them wasn’t any indication that you might.”

“It wasn’t.”

Her words were meaningless, though, as she noticeably flinched when a stray Beedrill buzzed over their heads. Once it passed she let out a shaky sigh of relief, glancing briefly at Brandon who was arching his eyebrow at her. Again, he went to help her up, and this time she acquiesced, reaching up toward his hand with her shaking one as she let him lift her off the ground. She ducked her head shyly, giving him a very small smile.

“Thank you.”

* * *

Charlotte and Joshua were walking hands intertwined out of the Gym that they had both just challenged and defeated. Charlotte was nothing if not a good Trainer and wiped the floor with the Gym Leader using only two Pokémon even while facing a Type disadvantage. She thought it was one for the record books. While she felt Joshua wasn’t nearly as good as she was, he did have a certain finesse to his Battles that she always admired, and also rather easily defeated the Leader.

As they walked outside, they were met by familiar brown hair and blue eyes.

“Brandon,” Joshua nearly growled.

“What do you want?” Charlotte quickly asked before the two guys could pounce on each other. The two had always seen each other as rivals. Even back in their school days, the two were at the top of their class and always ended up facing off.

It certainly didn’t help that they were both interested in the same girl.

“I assume that you both just beat Casey?” Brandon asked, pointedly ignoring Charlotte’s question.

“Easily,” Joshua replied, looking smug.

“Me too.” Proving his point, Brandon opened his jacket and flashed the newly acquired Badge at the pair in front of him. “Wanna see who actually deserved it?”

“Should be easy enough,” Joshua said, stepping forward. “One on one?”

It only took a few turns for Brandon’s Skarmory to defeat Joshua’s Graveler.

A dejected Joshua returned the Rock Type back to its ‘Ball and grumbled as he walked back to Charlotte, “If I had gotten the chance to heal him it would have been…”

But Charlotte tuned him out. She sought out his hand to hold in comfort but couldn’t keep back the grin that crept onto her face as she watched Brandon congratulate his Pokémon. He caught her looking at him and gave her a small, secret smile she had never seen before. Somehow she knew it was just for her.

* * *

She sat in the Pokémon Center, her body wracking with silent sobs. Joshua had left just a couple days ago, saying that he was going home for Thanksgiving with his family.

And he wasn’t coming back.

He had claimed that it had nothing to do with her, but that he didn’t feel that the battling scene was for him anymore, and he needed to try some other things in life, and being tied down to the same girl since he was prepubescent wasn’t going to help that. They had been something of a couple for what felt like her whole life. Five years was a long time. She loved him and now she felt like someone had threw her to the ground was kicking her in the gut over and over again and it didn’t ever feel like it was going to stop.

Abruptly she bristled and stopped crying, stiffening at the distinct feel of eyes on her. “You’ve been following me,” Charlotte said without a glance behind her.

“Not following so much as keeping tabs,” Brandon replied offhandedly as he hopped over the back of the couch to land smoothly next to her. “And in doing so, I happen to know that you are in desperate need of a new traveling partner.”

Charlotte rolled her red eyes, weakly attempting to push Brandon away from her. “Oh, screw off. It just so happens that traveling alone is exactly what I need right now. This is the perfect opportunity for me to go into the mountains for some real training. Traveling with a boy was just holding me back.”

“Okay.”

Charlotte arched her eyebrow, glancing at the boy next to her. It was not like him at all to give up so easily. “That’s it?”

“Yeah. It just happens that I was thinking the exact same thing. I actually came this way just to take advantage of the extreme conditions of the mountains. I didn’t assume that you would be able to take that. But I guess I’ll see you there.”

He winked at her and slung his bag over his shoulder, leapt over the back of the couch again and walked through the automatic doors. Charlotte seethed, glaring at him for a moment before grabbing her bag and racing after him.

She would show him.

* * *

“Don’t come any closer!”

Brandon attempted to push Charlotte away, but she just grabbed both his arms and held them firmly to keep him still. It was dark. They were at the bottom of a ridge and it was late in the day, so hardly any light reached them. She called on her Pikachu, requesting it to spark its cheeks a little to light the area. She gasped at what she saw. The skin on Brandon’s whole right side was all torn and bloodied and his leg was twisted at a horribly unnatural angle.

“Oh my goodness,” she breathed. “Brandon we have to get you home.”

“No,” Brandon said immediately, wrenching out of Charlotte’s grip. “It’s fine.” He tried to stand up, but his right leg crumbled under his weight and he fell back to the ground.

“Brandon!” she cried. “Stop being an idiot. You just fell down a mountain. You’re really hurt and we have to get you home.”

He turned away from her, and she saw a number of scrapes on his face she hadn’t noticed before. “I can’t go home,” he confessed.

Charlotte tilted her head in confusion. “Why?”

Brandon sighed, wincing as he did so. “My dad will be upset. He had to give up on his dreams of being a Trainer when his grandfather got sick and he had to become the next ‘Professor Oak’. I think that he resents that I’m able to live out the dream he never could. And if he sees something like this, he won’t want me to keep doing it.”

Her heart went out to him. She touched his jaw lightly with her hand and tilted it so that she could look into his eyes. “Then come to my home. It’s closer anyway.”

He looked at her with such intensity it made her tremble. “Why are you being so nice to me?” he whispered.

Charlotte smiled. “We’ve never been friends, Brandon, but we’ve always been there for each other. You saved me from those Beedrill, now it’s my turn.”

He smiled back at her.

* * *

She ran.

He had finally kissed her and she was running away as fast as humanly possible.

They had been more or less traveling together for nearly a year now with not so much as holding hands in the thick fog of the mountains or the absolute darkness of the densest forests. Sure, they had occasional moments that seemed like they meant something more, but they had had clear lines drawn. It was safe. For once in their lives, they were friends.

And then he had to go and kiss her.

“Charlotte!” he cried out behind her. “Charlotte Ketchum!”

She whipped around, a few stray tears streaming down her face. “Why? Why did you have to go and do that?”

“Charlotte,” he started, “I’ve been wanting to do that since we were eight years old.”

The tears stopped. She just blinked at the boy in front of her in wonderment. “Really?” she whispered.

“Really,” he told her, moving in to cup her face in his hands. He kissed her soundly on the lips in a way that made her hair stand up on end and her heart swell with fiery warmth.

When they finally moved apart, Charlotte whispered. “Me too.”

* * *

This time when they went home things were different. The year before they were friends. One friend helping out another friend. They saw it that way, and her parents saw it that way. No one even imagined it being anything else. Because it wasn’t.

This time, no one was hurt, no one needed help, and no one was just friends. This time, it was Christmas, and it seemed like the right time to show up at home and have a nice evening.

Charlotte had gotten herself all dolled up; this was the first opportunity that she really had for her boyfriend to see her in something other than her training gear which, while it served useful for its purpose, it was not exactly what one would call figure flattering. Now, was the perfect opportunity to show off her Sensational Sister lineage a little. She had bought a gorgeous, short gold dress with a metallic filigree design on it that was tight to her waist and then puffed at her hips. It was festive and cute and she knew Brandon would _love_ it.

They arrived at the party and Charlotte immediately went searching for her parents. It had been a year since she’d seen them and she missed them so much.

She managed to find them pretty quickly and made a grand effort to ignore all the death glares that her dad sent towards Brandon. After a while, they moved on to mingle with other people at the party. It was, after all, Brandon’s house, so he had plenty of people to see as well. There was just one person that they weren’t expecting to see. Gary Oak still had a number of connections to models and former models, one of whom was none other than Giselle. And her husband Joe. And their son Joshua.

The very same Joshua who was sending the happy couple stinging looks to rival Ash’s. Brandon couldn’t help but smirk a little as he caught Joshua’s eye.

Later, Brandon and Charlotte were outside, chatting amicably in the yard with a couple of random acquaintances. As the other couple left, their lips met briefly for a fleeting moment before they were torn apart by a fist connecting with Brandon’s face.

“What the hell?” Brandon exclaimed as he clutched his throbbing cheek.

“I always knew you were after her,” Joshua growled as he made another move toward Brandon.

Before he got the chance, Brandon shoved him hard and before they knew it, the two of them were interlocked in a brawl, Charlotte beside them, trying desperately to tear them apart without getting hit by a flying fist.

The fight only lasted a few moments before Ash pulled the two boys off of each other, Misty by his side. Misty grabbed Joshua by his shoulder and roughly walked him over to Joe and Giselle, glaring spitefully at the woman in the process. She then returned to Charlotte, whom she walked inside.

That left Ash and Brandon. Gary must have been inside and not seen the battle. Ash took Brandon aside before he could catch wind of it. They stood in awkward silence for a few moments before Ash finally spoke. “I don’t like you, you know.”

Brandon’s spine shot straight and he looked up to the man in front of him with a hint of fear in his eyes.

Ash brought his hand up to pacify him. “It’s not personal. Clearly you care about my daughter. Enough to get your face punched in, at least. You need to make sure that she knows that it’s not just a game and not just a way to flex your muscles at that other kid.”

A look of confusion graced Brandon’s face. “Why are you telling me this?

“It was years before Misty and I got together. Hell, we were practically dating since we were ten, but both of us were to chicken to actually say anything. So we didn’t _actually_ start dating until we were older than you. I really wish that hadn’t lived in that limbo for all those years.” He turned to look directly at Brandon. “I don’t want the two of you to go through anything like that. So get back in there and apologize to her.”

Brandon gulped and did just that.

* * *

“I miss hating you, you know? It was a simpler time.”

Brandon turned sharply to look at Charlotte. “You never hated me.”

Charlotte looked defiantly at him and nodded her head vehemently. “Oh, yes I did. From the day we met, I vowed to hate you. I was pretty good at it too, since you were such a jerk.”

“I wasn’t a jerk!” Brandon cried out. “I saved you from a Beedrill!”

“I saved you after you fell off a mountain,” Charlotte retorted.

“It would have been nice if you could have saved me _before_ I fell off the mountain.”

“Well maybe—”

She was silenced has his lips crashed on her own, making her forget all words and what hating this boy even meant.

“Still hate me?”

She looked into those piercing blue eyes and found the words just tumbling out of her. “I love you.”

Both their eyes widened for a moment before Brandon managed out, “I love you too,” and brought his lips back down to hers.

* * *

Charlotte sat awkwardly in the hallway of the hospital, bouncing her leg anxiously up and down on the floor as she strained her ears to hear the conversation going on in the room next to hear. She couldn’t hear a word, but trying to listen gave her something to focus on instead of letting her thoughts go wild.

He wasn’t badly hurt, just a little roughed up, as was she. They had been fighting, trying to take down a large branch of Team Rocket, and had been largely successful. However, it had been an extraordinarily difficult operation that had left both of them in need of medical care. Both their parents were contacted, but after seeing Charlotte, who by all appearances looked essentially fine, Ash and Misty were convinced that she was fine. They had lived through worse. Gary, on the other hand, flew out immediately to the hospital to have a chat with his son.

At just that moment, Gary stepped out of the room and walked right past Charlotte and down the hallway. Charlotte took this opportunity to slip into Brandon’s room.

“What did your dad have to say?”

Brandon sighed, an immense sadness filling his eyes as he looked at Charlotte. “He thinks it would be best if I went on him on his next research assignment.”

Face falling, Charlotte opened her mouth to speak, but Brandon beat her to it.

“I’ve been riding on thin ice since that fight with Josh, and this was the tipping point, I guess.”

Charlotte nodded, swallowing the lump that was now forming in her throat and choked out. “He just wants what’s best for you.”

“I know.” Brandon slipped his hand out from under the hospital sheets and grasped Charlotte’s, drawing light circles on it. “He says this is a very important project and that no one is supposed to know where it is.”

Charlotte’s eyes widened. “B-But that means—”

“That we won’t be able to talk to each other for the whole time I’m there,” Brandon finished.

Charlotte nodded. “How long?”

“At least six months.”

A tear started trailing down Charlotte’s cheek. “Six months,” she murmured.

“Listen,” Brandon started, “If you’re travelling and you meet some other guy—”

Charlotte began shaking her head vigorously. “No, it won’t—”

“—than it’s okay.” Brandon smiled sadly. “Just try not to kiss him too much.”

Then the tears really began to fall. She leaned down and hugged him. “I love you, you idiot.”

* * *

She left in the middle of the night. She had been staying with her parents on and off after Brandon left. Traveling just wasn’t the same without him. She would try it, but would always come back after a little while and stay in the Gym. It was good for her. She was learning how to be a Gym Leader and soon enough she would be able to take care of the Gym on her own if need be.

Only that’s not what she wanted. Not now.

What she wanted could be anywhere all over the world, but she needed to find him. These last few months she had been feeling like she was drowning and as she snuck out of the house, she was finally starting to feel as though she could breathe again.

Maybe she should have woken her parents to tell them she was leaving, but she knew if she didn’t leave right that moment she would explode. So she left a note with the first place she was headed in case they wanted to call her, but that they shouldn’t try and follow her. She knew her dad would try anyway, but she could count on her mom to stop him.

She stepped into the cool Cerulean night air and smiled as she breathed in. She would find him.

* * *

He was there. She arrived in the Pokémon Center of the place she had written in her note and there he was, sitting as though he had been waiting for her. Her mouth was opening and closing, trying to get out words, but not being able to figure out what to say.

“Surprised to see me?”

Charlotte shook her head to get her thoughts together. “What are you doing here?” she sputtered.

“I’m here to see you,” he said softly, looking at her with _that_ look.

“How?” she breathed.

“Your parents told me.”

Before she could ask how that possibly happened, another question came to mind. “What about your dad?”

Brandon waved his hand, passing it off. “He’ll get over it.”

“So this means…”

“You’re mine forever.”

She ran over to lift her arms around his neck so he could kiss her like she was never kissed before and she vowed from that day forward to love the brunette boy with the blue eyes that pierced right through her.

 

_FIN_


End file.
